Polis bill would extend legal protections to gay, bisexual and transgender students

Legislation introduced today by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis[2], D-Boulder. would make discrimination or harassment of gay, bisexual or transgender students in public schools against federal law.

The bill effectively extends the same protection against discrimination that now exists for women and minorities in public schools to gender identity or “perceived gender identity,” allowing victims to sue schools in federal court.

Supporters cite examples like a case in Vallejo, Calif., where a lesbian student named Rochelle Hamilton allegedly experienced verbal harassment by teachers and was required to undergo school-sponsored counseling because of her sexual identity.

“It’s a well tried area of law,” said Polis, one of three openly gay members of Congress. “Title IX[3] already applies to gender, so we’re not creating a whole new thing, we’re simply adding a new category.”

The protections offered by the legislation would be broad, and would presumably hold school officials liable for failing to stop bullying of gay students in schools – or even students who were perceived to be gay by their peers.

“In many cases they might very well be straight boys who are feminine and are discriminated against because of that or beaten up because of that,” Polis said. “It’s a very common occurrence and I think anybody who has been to junior high or high school anywhere in the country is familiar with that concept.”

But critics suggest the legislation would have significant consequences for schools, and that fixes are better left to local officials.

“We think the best thing would be policies that prohibit bullying across the board for any reason against any child,” said Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action[4], the political arm of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family. “The emphasis should be on the wrong action of the bullies, not why they did it or what their perceived thoughts were.”

“This can and should be done without politicizing the classroom and introducing controversial sexual topics to kids against parents’ wishes,” Cushman said.